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A new rep's first month is mostly decided before they arrive: whether their logins work, whether someone has picked the calls they should hear, and whether anyone has written down what "ready" means. This checklist is for the manager or enablement lead who owns that month. It covers what to set up before day one, what the rep does in each of the first four weeks, who owns each step, and the gates a rep passes before taking calls alone.
It's deliberately operational. For the bigger question of how new reps learn best, read the best way to train new sales reps. This page is the list you print, assign and tick off.
How to use this checklist
It assumes a B2B rep who will sell over the phone and video, and a first month aimed at getting them to independent calls. Stretch or compress the weeks to fit your sales cycle, but keep the order: context, practice, supervised calls, then ownership.
- Give every line an owner. The tags below are a starting point. A task with no name next to it tends not to happen.
- Put dates on it. Copy the list into whatever your team already uses, with a due date for each item.
- Treat gates as gates. A rep moves on when they pass, not when the week ends. That protects them as much as your pipeline.
- Review it every Friday. Fifteen minutes with the rep: what's done, what's stuck and what they found confusing.
Before day one
The best first morning is one where the rep starts learning at nine instead of waiting for a laptop until eleven. Most of this list is about removing friction, and the last group is about deciding, in advance, what success looks like.
Access and tools
- Laptop, email, calendar and video accounts working before day oneOwner: Ops
- CRM login with the right permissions, plus a short note on the fields that matterOwner: Ops
- Phone or dialer number set up and testedOwner: Ops
- Practice and learning accounts created, so practice can start in week oneOwner: Enablement
People
- A buddy chosen: a peer in the same role who is doing well and wants to helpOwner: Manager
- Intro meetings booked with marketing, product, customer success and a strong repOwner: Manager
- Weekly 1:1s on the calendar for the first three monthsOwner: Manager
Content
- Playbook, ideal customer profile and buyer personas in one placeOwner: Enablement
- Three to five recorded calls picked as examples, with notes on what good looks likeOwner: Manager
- Talk tracks for the calls the rep will make firstOwner: Enablement
Plan
- A draft 30-60-90 day plan with the outcome you expect at each pointOwner: Manager
- A written definition of "ready for live calls"Owner: Manager
- Certification calls booked for the end of weeks two and fourOwner: Manager
The 30-60-90 day plan is worth drafting before the rep starts, then finishing with them in week one. The 30-60-90 day sales plan template gives you a structure to start from.
Week 1: context and setup
Week one is about context, not volume. Resist the urge to fill every hour with product training. A new rep remembers far more from hearing real calls and saying things out loud than from a stack of slides.
Goal: By Friday, the rep can explain who you sell to, the problem you solve and how a deal moves, in their own words.
- Welcome, then walk through the 30-60-90 day plan togetherOwner: Manager
- Product overview from the buyer's side: the problems it solves, not the feature listOwner: Enablement
- Ideal customer profile and persona session, using anonymized won and lost dealsOwner: Manager
- Listen to the example calls and note three things to copyOwner: Rep
- Shadow at least two live calls with the buddy and debrief each oneOwner: Buddy
- Say the short pitch out loud to a peer or an AI buyer, and record itOwner: Rep
Gate to move on: The rep gives the short company pitch to you and answers three questions about who you sell to, without notes.
Week 2: practice the core call
Week two turns knowledge into talk. Pick the call the rep will make first, usually a cold call for SDRs or a discovery call for AEs, and practice it every day until the structure feels natural.
Goal: The rep can run the first type of call they will make for real, start to finish, in practice.
- A daily 30-minute practice block: opener, first questions and the most common objectionOwner: Rep
- Walk through the call scorecard: what each criterion means and what a pass looks likeOwner: Manager
- Write responses to the top objections in their own wordsOwner: Rep
- CRM walkthrough: logging calls, next steps and deal stagesOwner: Ops
- Two roleplays with you as the buyer, with feedback on one thing at a timeOwner: Manager
- More shadowing, now taking the notes the CRM needsOwner: Buddy
Gate to move on: Certification call one: a full practice call scored against the team scorecard. The rep passes when they reach the bar you wrote down before day one, not when the calendar says so.
Week 3: supervised live calls
The first live calls are where confidence is won or lost. Keep the list small and well researched, keep someone on the line, and debrief while the call is still fresh.
Goal: The rep makes real calls with someone listening, and every call block starts with a short warm-up.
- First live call blocks with you or the buddy listening inOwner: Manager
- A 10-minute practice warm-up before each blockOwner: Rep
- Same-day debrief: one thing that worked and one thing to changeOwner: Buddy
- A small, researched list of accounts rather than the whole territoryOwner: Manager
- Self-review one recorded call with the scorecard before the 1:1Owner: Rep
Gate to move on: You have heard the rep handle a real objection and agree a specific next step on a live call.
Week 4: owning the work
By week four the rep should be doing the job with a safety net, not watching it. Swap full shadowing for spot checks and start coaching the way you coach the rest of the team.
Goal: The rep runs their own day, including calls, follow-up and CRM updates, with you reviewing rather than steering.
- Independent call blocks, with spot checks instead of full shadowingOwner: Manager
- First pipeline or activity review, run the way the team's reviews runOwner: Manager
- Pick one skill to work on in month two, based on the scorecard trendOwner: Rep
- Start practicing the next call type, such as discovery or a demoOwner: Rep
- Ask the rep what was missing or confusing, and update this checklistOwner: Enablement
Gate to move on: Certification call two, plus a month-one review: what the rep can now do alone and what the plan is for days 31 to 90.
Certification gates: what to check
A gate checks behavior, not attendance. "Completed product training" tells you the rep sat through it. "Explained our three main use cases to a skeptical buyer and asked a follow-up question about each" tells you they can use it. Write the criteria before the rep starts, share them on day one, and score every certification call the same way. A first certification call might check that the rep:
- Opens with a clear reason for the call and asks a question early, instead of pitching for a minute
- Asks follow-up questions before moving on, rather than reading down a list
- Handles the most common objection calmly, without arguing or caving
- Ends with a specific, dated next step, or a clear reason why there isn't one
- Logs the call and the next step correctly in the CRM
Three to five criteria is plenty. The sales call scorecard template has criteria for each stage of a call that you can copy, and using the same scorecard for certification and for everyday coaching means the rep never has to learn two standards.
Gates only work if the rep gets enough attempts to pass them, and manager time is the usual limit. With Vonvo, new reps practice by voice against AI buyer personas that raise objections, and every practice call is scored on an NEPQ-based scorecard. Practice scenarios can be generated from your company profile and the materials you upload, and from the Starter plan up you can build your own with the personas, objections and goals your new hires will meet. The learning hub's training tracks are included from Professional. To bring new hires into your workspace so they run your scenarios and share calls to a team library, where you review the transcript and scorecard before the 1:1, you need Growth. Sales onboarding with Vonvo shows how the pieces fit together.
Days 31 to 90
After month one the checklist gets shorter and the coaching gets more specific. The structure that works for many teams:
- Days 31 to 60. Add the next call type, such as discovery after cold calls or demos after discovery, with its own practice block and certification call. Weekly 1:1s move to one focus skill at a time, and you spot-check a few calls a week rather than shadowing.
- Days 61 to 90. Full responsibilities and the normal team rhythm. Review progress against the 30-60-90 day plan and the rep's ramp time so far, and agree what happens if a target is behind.
- Around day 90. Ask the rep to teach something back, for example by running a practice session on the objection they have learned to handle best. Explaining a skill to others is a good test of whether it has stuck.
Who owns what
Onboarding fails quietly in the gaps between people. Agree these owners before the rep's first day, and name the backup for each when someone is out.
| Owner | Owns | The common miss |
|---|---|---|
| Manager | The plan, the gates, weekly 1:1s and call reviews | Skipping a gate because the team is busy |
| Buddy | Shadow calls, everyday questions and quick debriefs | Being chosen because they are free, not because they are good |
| Enablement | Content, practice scenarios and learning tracks | Material that is out of date before the rep reads it |
| Ops or IT | Access, CRM setup and the dialer | Logins that arrive in week two |
| Rep | Daily practice, self-review and asking questions early | Waiting to be told what to do next |
Adapting it for your team
- SDRs. Shorten the context week and spend more time on call repetitions, because the core call is short and repeated many times a day. The 30-day SDR training program lays out the skills side day by day.
- Account executives. Expect longer on discovery, demos and your sales stages, and add a gate on running a full first meeting before they take one alone.
- Remote hires. Schedule the buddy time instead of relying on overheard calls, record more of the example calls, and keep the Friday review on video.
- Experienced hires. Compress the context weeks, but keep the gates. Experience elsewhere doesn't mean they know your buyers, your product or your scorecard.
Common onboarding mistakes
- Information without practice. A rep who has read everything but said nothing out loud will freeze on the first real objection.
- Live calls before a gate. Throwing a rep onto the phones to "learn by doing" burns leads and confidence at the same time.
- A buddy with no time. If buddy time isn't protected in their calendar, it gets squeezed out by their own quota.
- Measuring attendance. Completed modules are easy to count and say little about whether a rep can sell.
- A checklist that never changes. Every new hire finds a gap. Fix it before the next one starts.
Frequently asked questions
What should be on a sales onboarding checklist?
Four kinds of items: access and tools ready before day one, the people a new rep should meet, the content they need to learn, and practice with clear pass marks. Give every item an owner and a date, and include certification gates that a rep must pass before moving on to live calls.
How long should sales onboarding take?
It depends on your sales cycle and the role. A common shape is a structured first month followed by a lighter plan for days 31 to 90, ending in full responsibilities. Judge progress by what the rep can do, using gates, rather than by how many weeks have passed.
When should a new sales rep start making live calls?
When they pass a scored practice call on the type of call they will make, not on a fixed date. For many teams that falls in week two or three. Start with someone listening in and a small, well-researched list.
Who should own sales onboarding?
The hiring manager owns the outcome: the plan, the gates and the coaching. Enablement owns content and practice material, operations owns access and tools, and a buddy handles everyday questions. Write the owner next to every checklist item so nothing falls between them.
How do you know if sales onboarding is working?
Look at whether new reps pass their certification calls on the first or second attempt, how their scorecard results trend over the first months, and their ramp time compared with earlier hires. Ask every new rep what was missing at the end of month one, and fix it for the next person.
Keep going in the library
Scripts, objection responses, frameworks and free tools that go with this article.
